Table of Contents

What’s in a Project?

My project is about ‘little’ stories narrated by places and people within the scattering chaos of the metropolis. I prefer individuals in the midst of geometries and graphic signals which are the backdrop of their daily life. My purpose is to catch the spontaneous relations between the individuals and the city. The metropolis can be either a cage or a cradle because sometimes we hate, and sometimes we love things that surround us. They oppress us and they free us at the same time and that’s the ‘short circuit’ I’m very curious about.

Why did you choose the subject?

It came up to me naturally. I’ve always been focused on narrating the daily life by the capture of its invisibile, unique moments. I look for genuine characters that have a strong connection – comfortable or conflictual – with the urban landascape they live in.

What inspired you to do it?

My very first inspiration came from Eric Drooker’s graphic novels. Drooker is an illustrator who narrated New York City through the poetry of human small actions and the crudeness of mass actions. Sometimes his characters are faceless but have a strong identity: it means that no matter who you are, your feelings are always the beating heart of the city you live in. So I’ve been looking for those ‘faceless’ people and their feelings and I understood that all cities have the identity that inhabitants give to them. No matter how geometrical, squared and cold your environment can be, your emotions can make it ‘baroque’, round and warm. I just want those emotions to come out.

How long is the duration of the project – was it a one-time thing or is it ongoing?

I think it’s a never ending project. Nevertheless, I feel that after three years I got to the end of a path. I’m going to work on another project but I’ll keep taking ‘minimal’ geometric photos since I can’t keep from observing the lines around me. Geometries are lines, they can be barriers, boundaries or the stage we play on: it’s up to us to humanize them.

What obstacles did you face and how did you overcome them?

None of my subjects are posed therefore capturing spontaneuous gestures is extremely difficult especially if they must appear in clean balanced compositions. It is a real chase: I seek for the image and I wait for the ‘crunch time’ to shoot. It also means that I often go back home with very poor results. Waiting for hours and not losing hope, that’s the secret.

What are the technical aspects of the project?

I’ve used a Fuji XT1 camera and a 23mm lens. I tried to shoot with a very good light in order to make a very soft post process.

What have you learned from the experience?

I learned how to wait and to observe the details that we often do not take into account in everyday life. Training your mind to observe and intuit is an exercise that changes your way of looking at life. Now observing and awaiting is not only a way to express my creativity and passion, it’s a natural attitude, a different approach to life.

What would you do differently?

I’d do it exactly the same.

What advice can you give someone who wants to do something similar?

My advice is to study the work of other photographers as much as possible and try to understand which one is more your speed. Then forget everything you’ve seen, walk down the streets and take your photos.

Sergio Raffaele

My projects are aimed at delving into urban and human architectures to understand how they influence each other and how they are perceived. I seek for the "ordinary" which, by the way, is always "unique" because lives and people are unique. Behind the seriality of faces, clothes and movements of a human mass there are many different individual experiences. I would like to draw attention to the diversity and the uniqueness of people. I wish those who look at my photos would wonder: "Who is that? Where are they from? Where are they going? What took them there?". And I'd like the beholder to complete this story. I wish two strangers - the subject of the photo and its beholder - would meet each other through a non-verbal but "sentimental" dialogue.